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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pitch · foot · bank · shower · cold · row · dip · chip

  1. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. shower — to wash
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. foot — a measure
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. bank — for money
  8. chip — to eat
  9. shower — rain
  10. bank — of a river
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. chip — for betting
  14. cold — not warm
  15. dip — to sink
  16. bank — for money
  17. cold — an illness
  18. row — a line
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. row — to paddle
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. pitch — completely

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com